Hermetically-sealed timed actuator



Jan. 29, 1963 E. B. .JUDD ETAL HERMETIcALLY-SEALED TIMED ACTUATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 2?., 1960 Jan. 29, 1963 E. B. JUDD ETAL 3,075,394

HERMETIcALLY-SEALED TIMED ACTUATOR Filed Nov. 23, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 engage the transfer pinion 34 twice and cause the transfer pinion 34 to rotate through a half cycle. The transfer pinion 34 is so mounted that it also engages with a second gear 36. The second gear Se is fixed on a second rotatable shaft bearing 3S, the bearing 38 also being rotatably mounted on the stub shaft 28. Mounted on the same shaft bearing Se as the gear 36 is a second transfer gear 4t?, the transfer gear itl thus rotating at the same speed as the gear 36. Also rotatably mounted in the casing is a second transfer pinion 42, the transfer pinion 42 being mounted so as to mesh with the transfer gear 4% once during each rotation 4of the transfer gear. Gear 4d and pinion 42 are designed to obtain one rotation of pinion 42 for a predetermined number of rotations of gear 40. ln the example shown in the drawing, for every rotation of the transfer gear 4d, the transfer pinion 42 will be rotated through a 90 portion of its entire cycle. In other words, the transfer pinion d2 is rotated once for every four rotations of the transfer gear 4t?. By means of proper selection of the gears, 26 and 36 the transfer gears 32 and 4d, and the transfer pinions, 34 and 42 the transfer pinion 42 may be rotated one complete cycle for the desired predetermined interval. For example, in considering a demand register, one complete cycle may be fifteen minutes.

As before noted, the transfer gear 42 is rotatably mounted within the casing lo, such as, for example, by being fixed to the rotatably mounted stubshaft 44. Fixedly mounted on the rotating stub shaft 44 is a cam member 4S provided with the cam section 50. The mounting is such, that for every rotation of the transfer pinion d2, the cam device 48 also makes one complete revolution. in order to provide the desired timed actuation, the actuator device Ztl comprises a lever or arm 51 which is pivotally mounted within the casings i6 as for example, by being pivotally mounted to a stub shaft 52. The actuator arm or lever 51 is provided with a cam follower 54 and is pivotally mounted such that the cam follower 54 is maintained in constant contact with the cam 48. As the cam completes a single revolution, the cam portion Sil contacts the cam follower 54 of lever 5l forcing the front end of the lever 51 in a downward direction thereby causing the other end of the lever 51 to be forced in an upward direction as viewed from FIG- URE 2. From the above it can be seen that through the action of the gearing mechanism connected to the terminal gear 24 of the synchronous motor an oscillatory motion of the lever Si is `obtained at a predetermined interval. The example set forth before was an interval of l5 minutes. Thus, the cam portion Sil of cam 48 will engage cam follower 54 of lever 51., once every l5 minutes causing the outer end of lever 5l to oscillate in an upward direction as viewed in FIGURE 2.

In order to provide the desired sealing of the entire mechanism a novel sealing device is utilized. Referring now to FIGURE 3 of the drawing, wherein there is shown the outer casing 16 which seals the mechanism for providing the timed movement of the actuator device 20, it is seen that the casing 16 is provided with an aperture S6 through which the outer end of the lever 51 protrudes. ln order to provide the desired sealing of the lever 51 and still enable the desired actuation of lever 5l, a guard member 1S, which is in the shape of an open ended cup, is provided. Guard member 18 has an aperture 5S, and the cup 18 is so mounted on the casing 16 such that the aperture 56 of casing 16 and the aperture 58 of cup or guard i8 are aligned. The portion of the guard 18 surrounding the aperture 58 is hermetically sealed to the casing 16 surrounding the `aperture 56. A flexible member e@ is then mounted over the arm 5l and is hermetically sealed to the bottom portion of the guard i8 as indicated at 62, thereby providing a hermetic seal between the casing, the guard, and the flexible member 6i?.

The outer portion of the exible member 60, which may be, for example, .a metallic bellows, is hermetically sealed to a cap-portion 64 which surrounds and encloses the outer end of the lever 5i. The cap-member 64 and the flexible member 6ft are hermetically sealed together as indicated at e6. Thus, it can be seen that the desired actuation of the actuator device Ztl may be obtained through the operation of the gearing mechanism which drives the cam 48. Also, it can be seen that due to the unique sealing method, that the lever 5l is enabled to be actuated as desired, while preventing any oil from leaking out from the interior of the casing 16 and similarly preventing the entry of any air into casing lo. By means of the unique hermetically sealed, timed actuator herein set forth, the maintenance-free life of the actuator is substantially increased by preventing any leaking of the oil as well as any entry of air which would oxidize the oil. Thus, it can be seen that there is provided a novel hermetically sealed, timed actuator which will perform the desired actuating function and still provides a hermetic seal of the actuating mechanism to prevent the loss of oil or the oxidation of oil therein and thus to substantially increase the maintenance-free life of the actuating device.

While there has been shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention as required by the patent statutes, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the operations and connections of the device described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. Au hermetieally sealed timed actuator comprising: an hermetically sealed casing, an elongated larm having one end within said casing and the other end extending outwardly from said casing, an opening in said casing through which said arm extends, means within said casing pivotally mounting said arm near said one end thereof, said other end of said arm normally being in a lowermost position, timing means in said casing contacting said one end of said arm to move said other end of said arm to an uppermost position at the end of a predetermined interval, yand lan elongated, hollow, Ilexible member having one end hermetically sealed to said casing about said opening therein, and the other end hermetically sealed to said other end of said arm, said outwardly extending portion of said arm being enclosed in said flexible member.

2. An hermetically sealed timed actuator as claimed in claim l in which said exible member is a metallic bellows'.

3. The invention defined by claim 2 in which an open ended cup is mounted on said casing, the cup having mounted centrally of its base one end of said elongated bellows, said casing and said base having yaligned apertures which open into .the interior of said bellows such that the said elongated arm can extend from within said casing into and along said bellows, said base of said cup being hermetically sealed to said casing and said one end of said bello-ws being hermetically sealed to the said base of said cup, the side walls of said cup being spaced from said bellows to serve as a protective shield therefor.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,624,736 Hutt Apr. l2, 1927 2,221,942 Carlson Nov. 19, 1940 2,299,179 Rosenberger Oct. 20, 1942 2,335,737 Panissidi Nov. 30, 1943 2,449,852 iones Sept. 2l, 1948 2,917,939 Harris Dec. 22, 1959 

1. AN HERMETICALLY SEALED TIMED ACTUATOR COMPRISING; AN HERMETICALLY SEALED CASING, AN ELONGATED ARM HAVING ONE END WITHIN SAID CASING AND THE OTHER END EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CASING, AN OPENING IN SAID CASING THROUGH WHICH SAID ARM EXTENDS, MEANS WITHIN SAID CASING PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID ARM NEAR SAID ONE END THEREOF, SAID OTHER END OF SAID ARM NORMALLY BEING IN A LOWERMOST POSITION, TIMING MEANS IN SAID CASING CONTACTING SAID ONE END OF SAID ARM TO MOVE SAID OTHER END OF SAID ARM TO AN UPPERMOST POSITION AT THE END OF A PREDETERMINED INTERVAL, AND AN ELONGATED, HOLLOW, FLEXIBLE MEMBER HAVING ONE END HERMETICALLY SEALED TO SAID CASING ABOUT SAID OPENING THEREIN, AND THE OTHER END HERMETICALLY SEALED TO SAID OTHER END OF SAID ARM, SAID OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PORTION OF SAID ARM BEING ENCLOSED IN SAID FLEXIBLE MEMBER. 